The invention relates to the field of high-current and high-voltage (i.e. high power) thyristor pulse drivers and generators such as used for explosive detonating firesets, cable and printed circuit board fault clearing, and for driving low impedance transducers and loads.
The generation of high power electrical pulses is often required in various applications such as in the firesets used for detonating explosives. These firesets typically use one or more MOS (metal-oxide-semiconductor) controlled thyristors (MCTs) to drive an array of serial and/or parallel connected explosives. Controlled precision timing of detonation is desired in order to control the effect of the detonation of an array of explosives as well as for studying the details of how such explosive events unfold.
Some prior-art devices use sparkgap-based driver devices for discharging an energy storage capacitor for generating high power pulses. Others use CMOS or TTL transistors to directly drive one or more MCTs. These devices exhibit time-jitter and/or deteriorate rapidly when subjected to repeated use. The present invention corrects these prior-art problems.
A low-jitter pulse-driver for driving a thyristor array and for producing a high-voltage and high-current output pulse from the thyristor array with fast rise-time and low onset jitter includes:
a) a trigger controlled low-voltage driver for driving a fast high-voltage switch;
b) a fast high-voltage switch for discharging a precharged capacitor into the primary of a current-multiplying transformer; and
c) a current-multiplying transformer with its primary winding connected in series with the fast high-voltage switch and a precharged capacitor, the transformer having at least one electrically isolated secondary winding for outputting a fast rise-time electrical pulse suitable for driving one or more prescribed thyristors.
The low-jitter driver is suitable for many different applications requiring a high power input pulse with low time-jitter. A precharged capacitor is selected so that the energy stored in the capacitor produces the desired current pulse when discharged into the primary of the current-multiplier transformer and produces the required electrical pulse at the secondary output to drive a prescribed load, such as a thyristor.
One embodiment includes a high-voltage charging circuit for pre-charging the capacitor for providing the energy to drive the current-multiplying transformer.
Another embodiment includes a thyristor array for generating a high-voltage and high-current pulse with low-jitter, the thyristor array driven by multiple electrically isolated secondary windings of the current-multiplying transformer.